The Legacy
by IwishIwasASlytherin
Summary: While Hermione sets out on a journey to retrieve her parents, she left her two wards and her friends under her Grandfather's care.
1. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

It's been a year since Mr. Damian Hastings has heard from his daughter. One lonely year, when he found the brick house abandoned, with no trace of where she and her family had gone. What's even more curious was the lack of his beautiful granddaughter's presence in any of the pictures that were hung in the family room. It was then when he knew that the Granger family, the only family he had left, went into hiding.

He was no stranger to war. In fact, he spent his teenage years, making toys during World War II which was the result of not being physically fit enough to join the army. His Toy-making hobby became a hit to lonely boys and girls who were waiting for their fathers and brothers to come back from the battles and soon, from the small town where he used to live, word of mouth spread like wildfire throughout the country about his toys. Thus, the Hastings Toy Emporium was born.

When his granddaughter wrote to him about her adventures in the world of magic, he knew that it would come to this point and his brave granddaughter would be at the center of it. Just like her mother, he thought as he shook his head with fondness. His daughter Helena had always been such a spitfire. He remembered that one occasion when she stood up against the bullying Head Girl in the Private School where she studied in. He and his beloved late wife were called in the middle of office hours to pick-up their daughter who had scratch-marks and smudged traces of her make-up. His wife was positively peeved but he has never been more proud of his daughter. He felt the same towards her granddaughter.

Hermione barged into his office, bawling her eyes out as she told him about what she had done to her parents and what she has been through. At first, he got upset that his sensible granddaughter ever thought of such preposterous idea to erase her parent's memories and send them to Australia.

After a couple of deep breaths, and a lot of thinking, he realized that she did it out of love and she came to him for a reason. "Grandfather, I'm getting them back and I need your help." He urged the brown haired girl to continue. "I currently have two wards under my protection. They are schoolmates of mine and they were in the other side of the war or at least one of them was."

"Speak no more. I will look after them and keep them occupied while you're gone. However my dear, what if they would want to leave?" He asked with concern.

"They will not leave. Their lives are in danger; they're wanted men by people who bore grudges besides, I also have my friends Harry and Ron who are protecting them as orders from the Minister of Magic. They will also join the other two." She tittered, unsure how her grandfather would take the information of him having to babysit four young men. Yes, even her best friends need looking after, now more so than ever.

"Hermione, puppet, I have more room and more tasks to exhaust four men in a lifetime. I can take care of it. Just promise me that you'll come back with your parents alive and safe, which goes the same for you, young lady." The witch looked crestfallen as her grandfather accosted her in a way that reminded her so much of Professor Dumbledore. "I will not be able to bear seeing you more scarred than you are now."

With a final hug, his granddaughter exited the oak doors of his office with a weary smile. Oh how he longed for her true smile that lit up his life from the moment he saw her as a baby. It was then when he vowed that he would do anything to get the smile back from her beautiful face.

That meeting happened just last week and now, as written in a letter delivered by a rather imposing owl, he will meet her friends in front of his office's fireplace. As to how will that happen, he will never know and as curious as he was about 'real' magic, he knew better than to exert his old mind over things that were not his to find out.

Ten minutes into lunch time, four consecutive pops were heard from inside the CEO's room. The employees merely thought that the old man was playing one of his old toys. Little did they know, that inside the company head's office, a red head cleaning his robes, a smiling boy with round spectacles, a grinning Italian and an annoyed platinum haired young man stepped outside the fireplace like it's second nature to them.

"You're late." Mr. Hastings said as he looked at the four men with mischief. "My granddaughter informed me that you'll be arriving 5 minutes earlier." The young men stood stoically, unsure how to react at the old man's stern statement.

"We apologize, Mr. Hastings. My name is Harry Potter and these are Ron Weasley, and Blaise Zabini." With a deep sigh, Harry continued with the last introduction. "Lastly, this is Draco Malfoy and he has a perfectly good explanation as to why we were late." The red head and Italian held back a chuckle.

"Good afternoon Mr. Hastings, we were late because of your granddaughter." The man with gray hair that was pulled back with gel raised an eyebrow at the tall blonde man with the most beautiful eyes he has ever seen yet those eyes were filled with so much weariness that he saw something familiar about him that he could not place. "You see, she started one of her lectures thirty minutes before we're due, but she ranted on until we had to practically run out towards the floo." The Italian boy who has a rich olive skin to complement his hazel eyes nodded in agreement nervously. The red head, Ron, gulped. The only one who looked composed out of the four was Harry, who he knew from his granddaughter, to be the bravest young man in his world.

"No need to explain, I was just joshing you!" The man approached the unlikely group and shook hands with each one of them with a twinkle in his eye. He heard the impeccably dressed blonde sigh with relief; he had a feeling that the young man had enough of scolding and so little guidance in his lifetime that he almost had to assume that there is a punishment waiting for him, the poor lad.

The old man told the group to take a seat while he went out of his office. "Everyone, may I have your attention." The whole floor was stunned silent. "We're having an emergency meeting in an hour. I suggest that you have your lunch now." He turned to his secretary with a smile. "Please make sure that that no employee on this floor went down for Lunch, and you can join them as well." The secretary, a woman in her mid-thirties, gave a grateful smile towards her boss before she joined the other employees on their way out.

After making sure that the whole floor was cleared, he led his guests towards the conference room just next door to his office.

"Alright, let's talk about the details of your visit." The men sat on the awfully comfortable leather chairs. "First of all, you'll have to stop calling me Mr. Hastings. Please call me Ian. Now, since you'll be living with me, I suggest that you can also work for me so you won't be bored out of your arses. Now, who among you has experience with finance?"

By the end of the meeting, it was settled that Blaise Zabini would be assigned in Finance. Ron Weasley will be in the Marketing and Advertising team while Harry Potter is going to be in the Research and Development team. "What about Malfoy?" Zabini asked with an amused expression, a Malfoy working in a muggle toy company is almost in the Top 3 signs of the apocalypse.

"Draco will be working under my direct supervision." At that moment, a loud knock was heard from outside, signaling the start of the afternoon meeting.

Author's Notes:

Thanks for reading. After years of absence, I'm back writing Fanfics.. :) To think that I'm 2 years out of college and I'm already working my ass up in the corporate ladder, fanfiction writing proved to be the best escape from the real world. I am currently looking for Beta Readers.

Disclaimer:

I do not own Harry Potter.. If I did, no.. I'm still not... HAHAHA!


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

The meeting went very well. In fact, if they were not inside the very intimidating conference room, they wouldn't think that they were in a business meeting. It was more like a gathering of neighbors who are working on a community project.

The young men were introduced to the team with names that Mr. Hasting has undoubtedly cooked up for them. "I'd like everyone to welcome the new additions to our team. Hugh Peters will be working with the Research and Development Team." The Department name was Harry's queue to wave at his new colleagues. "Ryan West will be joining the Marketing and Advertising Team while Sebastian Scarlotti will be assigned to the Finance Department." The Marketing and Advertising Team cheered for their new companion while the Finance Department looked at the new addition suspiciously which made Blaise Zabini turn to them with a smug look on his face.

"Lastly, this is Darren Manning. He'll be working directly under me. For one month, he'll be observing how our company operates and after that, he'll begin his special project which has something to do with the Hastings Toy Convention. I have a gut feeling that these young men will have a long, steady career with us." Draco stared at the old muggle, thinking that he found the man who could rival his former Headmaster's lunacy.

"Alright, I'll draft their employment contracts and the training team will conduct an orientation in the next few days. Meanwhile, I need some requirements from you for our records. I'll send it to Ian's office later." The Head of Human Resources said in a fake cheery tone, reminiscent of Dolores Umbridge. She seemed upset that the CEO did not consult her about the hiring and clearly, there was a reason for this sudden impulse because as of their last meeting, they were clearly not short staffed.

After the meeting, they went back to Mr. Hasting's office where his granddaughter sat in the sofa, while reading a large tome. "There you are puppet!" Mr. Hastings greeted his daughter with a wide smile and a bear hug. "Are you ready for your trip then?" The brown haired witch who was wearing a dark green tank top and jeans, nodded.

"My flight is in one hour. I just popped by to say goodbye." The witch proceeded to give her best friends a tight hug while whispering instruction in record speed. "Harry, do not forget to report to Kingsley every Friday alright? Set up the necessary protective spells in here and in my grandfather's house. Also, please remember that you have a spitfire of a girlfriend who's going to kill you in your sleep if you don't contact her." She said which made her best friend blush profusely.

"Ron, your mother gave instructions that you have to spend your Saturday with the family. When you're there, please fetch Crookshanks and bring him to Grandfather's house. Can you please owl Luna and ask how she's doing with Pansy and vice versa?" That earned a snort from all four former Hogwarts Students. The mere fact that Pansy Parkinson was assigned to be in Luna Lovegood's care brought absolute hilarity to everyone who was in the Ward Assignment Meeting. They were all sure that Pansy would have killed herself by now and that Luna Lovegood would be there to witness it while talking about 'undiscovered' magical creatures.

Hermione moved on to her two Slytherin wards. "What, no hug for Slytherins?" Blaise Zabini grinned at her playfully with his arms stretched wide open. The brown haired girl laughed at Italian who surprised everyone by being the fun guy among the Slytherin bunch despite spending his days in Hogwarts lurking in the shadows. "You find your folks quick before this office become a crime scene. I mean, with Potter, Weasley and Malfoy in one room?" Hermione embraced the Slytherin while chuckling lightly.

"You'll have to play the peace-keeper for a while." The witch said. She knew that the Slytherin would do it anyway. In the weeks that she spent with Zabini and Malfoy in her care, he was always the one to break-up the fights between her and her childhood nemesis.

She turned toward her other ward. Draco Malfoy, the bane of her existence, the same boy who tormented her throughout her childhood days. "Malfoy, your mother is staying with your Aunt Andromeda. You'll have to visit her at least once a week. The poor woman will get lonely. Don't forget to study for your N.E.W.T.S; it is eight months from now and please don't send my grandfather into cardiac arrest while I'm away." The blonde rolled his eyes as his former classmate ranted on a list of dos and don'ts that he noticed were only given to him.

"Granger, I am not a child." Hermione glared at Draco before she handed him a parchment containing a list of things that he needs to accomplish.

Her grandfather looked at the exchange with a funny grin on his face. "You may as well be! Who was it who stuffed my pet inside a cauldron last week?"

"I was bored." The statement was met by a raised eyebrow from the woman.

"Malfoy, please do not screw this up." She pleaded before turning towards her Grandfather who was in search of something in his drawer.

"Grandfather, I'll call as soon as I get to Australia." Her grandfather handed her a black purse. Hermione opened the purse to find a credit card, an ATM card and a load of Australian Dollars. She gasped in shock at her grandfather's generosity. "Pops, I cannot accept this."

"You can and you will. I will not have you running around Australia without any money and you will most certainly not sleep in cheap motels to get by. I have booked a hotel for you to go home to, the information is all there." Hermione sobbed in her Grandfather's arms while the four gentlemen stood, basking in the gloriousness of Mr. Hasting's love for his granddaughter. "Go on puppet, you're running late."

With a final goodbye, Hermione apparated out of the office. Once Mr. Hastings recovered from the sight of his granddaughter vanishing out of thin air, the man turned to the group and said, "Let's go home."

The group stepped out of the CEO's office only to be cornered by the Human Resources Chief who handed them the requirements that they need to submit. "Ian, we still have to talk about their compensation packages."Damian Hastings turned towards the peeved woman with a sly smile on his face. "These young men are the cream of the crop and I expect them to be compensated generously. I already told Susan about this last week and from what she told me on her report earlier this morning, she sent it to you last Thursday."

The Human Resources Head, a thin woman with short hair that made her neck look longer than necessary, grunted. "That is exactly why I wanted to talk to you, Ian. The figures are too much for entry level employees who haven't even gone through the proper testing process. We were not even allowed to see their resumes beforehand."

"Bernadette, the reason why they did not go through the process was because I wanted to test a theory of mine." Bernadette looked on towards her boss like she was urging him to go on. "Tell me, why is it that in five years, 40% of employees who went through the proper testing process resigned claiming that they were not hired based on their level of competency?"

With that note, the group of men went out of the office leaving an enraged HR Head and an amused group of employees.

* * *

Author's Note:

Thank you for reading… please R&R!

Disclaimer:

Nope.. J.K Rowling still own Harry Potter and I wouldn't have it any other way.


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